Is Windows Phone dead in Ireland – Well yes. The store has none either.. Confirmed. #WindowsPhone

This will certainly hurt whats left of the community which includes myself but it’s time to face facts.

As a long time user of Windows Phone its had its highs and lows anecdotally the latter seems to apply if im honest. Over the years there was a time when Windows Phone did have double digits in Market Share now thats down to a single digit and has been falling off for the last few years..

When it comes to apps we too have also fought and asked about wanted apps coming to the platform and greeted with the same scripted bullshit response over and over again..However I partly blame biased media and marketing when the times where good and I also blame people having no knowledge in-store on peoples questions about the devices in most cases you would see an auto-pilot mode from the sales person swiftly moving you onto either a Samsung or Apple device..However also at fault here was staff training, Apparently a cutback, Speaking of apps even a recent question I asked below but gave me an honest out straight answer,but as for some like RyanAir and Aerlingus for example and financial institutions it was the same codswallop reply… “We have no current plans at this time” or a similar line written in different text speak…

Morning @techbuzzireland, unfortunately we have no plans to release a Windows app as the market is so small in Ireland.

This became the norm and again applies to financial institutions with the likes of Bank of Ireland and AIB but still has not happened in fact if I can now recall only one bank has since introduced such and app and I got a pain in my backside fighting the corner for users here and gave up to the empty responses.. Permanent TSB did however give us an app in October 2015. So here what we had was a situation where particularly with a certain Bank or Airline seeing all Android and iOS users enjoying the benefits of the apps available and thus leaving them stranded and told to use the mobile site instead which back then where not exactly mobile friendly even by the companies own admittance.

The problem obviously was apps not just apps though, timely updates where another problem and in a fast moving world where Android and iOS flourished and still do so today the app gap was getting bigger the updates getting slower and then it moved on to a flagship device wait from the Nokia Lumia 830/930/1520 How long was it before they came out with the sub par 950 devices…. We will leave it there…Make no mistake under Nokia’s wings Window’s phone had potential, When MS took over and with clearly no interest in mobile it began to crumble. Even today we see no interest from Microsoft in its mobile division.

Over the last year we have seen continuous discounts and in fact some competition between the store itself an re sellers like Argos for example. Often the case the devices where much more expensive which made no sense at all for Microsoft and people could openly walk into the likes of Argos and pick up the device much cheaper and walk out with it, Given eCommerce is now the way forward Microsoft again seemed to fail to understand this game.

Now we are in a situation where the last of the devices announced are now dwindling from retail and eCommerce funnily enough some retailers sell them for a ridiculous price and they will never sell at what I have seen commanded. Again I have followed pricing on the said devices for a long time which is all noted on site..

Just before Christmas Microsoft Ireland had the Lumia 650 for just €99. Which is excellent and I use one of these today along with my Gold Limited Edition 830 but two days later Microsoft hiked the price, This was common across the device portfolio and never made sense to me. Given we have seasonal discounts or whats called an official permanent price cut we have competition and as mentioned you do not sell the same device more expensive than your competitor. OK we can argue sim-free here but no it was not the case in all cases the device was sim-free and not belonged to a network.

What we are now faced with here and probably a silent exit from Microsoft themselves is availability from the MS Store Ireland. The UK store has been a better option to begin with, They have more products and even sell the cheaper Acer Liquid Jade and the super overpriced HP elite x3 which is not going anywhere fast with a near dead OS carrying the price is commands which is over €900. Come on….

What we now see is an “Out Of Stock” notification for ALL Lumia phones today, Before this we would get an indicator telling us “email when notified” This is no longer the case. Call it what you will be it inventory levels but the trend has been reported in other regions.. Why continue to flog dead horses..

Too finish off we just have 3 devices left.. STATUS – OUT OF STOCK.. Nothing else.

We did also ask an agent about the current listings and here is what we where told… As for popularity with a 1% Market share…….That is a discussion that will always remain an arguable point. Tech goes round in cycles and as for Symbian fans, Windows Phone fans are die hards…

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CEO and expert in transport and Mobile tech. A fan 20 years, mobile consultant, Nokia Mobile expert, Former Nokia/Microsoft VIP,Multiple forum tech supporter with worldwide top ranking,Working in the background on mobile technology, Weekly radio show, Featured on the RTE consumer show, Cavan TV and on TRT WORLD. Award winning Technology reviewer and blogger. Part time actor and security professional and brutally honest when it comes to opinions.